UNSEALED

The Seventh Sin is the 1957 filming of W. Somerset Maugham's novel The Painted Veil, an exotic tale of personal redemption earlier produced with Greta Garbo. Eleanor Parker plays a brittle adulteress who accompanies her doctor husband (Bill Travers) to a cholera-stricken region of China, where she undergoes a profound transformation with the help of the local convent and a cynical bystander played by George Sanders.

The film's score is by Miklós Rózsa and a powerful convergence of three of his styles: his "epic" work of the period (late '50s M-G-M—the theme bears a resemblance to his questing melody for Lust for Life); his "film noir" moods (for the story's marital infidelities); and his "exotic" style (for the remote Asian setting). A highlight is "East Meets West/Tea Party," where Rózsa's enchanting music turns a small personal gathering into a supple, transcendent affair.

FSM's premiere CD of The Seventh Sin features the complete underscore followed by the film's source music: a 17:28 suite of Chinese-styled pieces (written by Rózsa to emulate Hong Kong records) and a waltz re-recorded from The Story of Three Loves (1953). The soundtrack is presented in the best-possible monaural sound, as it was originally recorded onto mono 17.5mm magnetic film rather than the stereo 35mm magnetic film customary for the period.

01. Prelude (2:15)
02. Briefcase (1:55)
03. Alibi / Mystery (4:26)
04. Homecoming (1:21)
05. Boat Trip (0:51)
06. Cortege (2:16)
07. Alone (0:49)
08. Nursery / Turmoil / Reminiscences (5:38)
09. Rape (2:07)
10. East Meets West / Tea Party (5:25)
11. New Life (2:20)
12. Home (1:15)
13. Bad News / Rough Passage / Forgiveness (7:17)
14. Finale (2:01)

Source Music
15. Chinese Montage (16:27)
16. Waltz (2:23)